


Team Efforts

by Chrysocyon



Category: NCIS, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Depression, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Past Abuse, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Suicidal Thoughts, Tony Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-24
Updated: 2017-11-07
Packaged: 2019-01-05 02:21:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12181020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chrysocyon/pseuds/Chrysocyon
Summary: When Gibbs returns after Hiatus, Tony's life is falling apart, but so is New York. Determined to do something different, Tony quits NCIS, and gets an interesting job offer.After struggling to lead the MCRT during Gibbs absence, will he be able to handle a team of super heroes?





	1. Lilo

**Author's Note:**

> So, despite the fact I think this is a fantastic idea, I haven't really seen it played out much. So I decided to try to write it myself. If you like the premise (tony as the avengers handler), feel free to use it because I honestly don't love writing and I'm not the best at it. 
> 
> Let me know what you think in the comments, if you would like to see it continued.

His heart heavy in his chest, like it might fall out entirely, Tony looked around at the people around him. How had it come to this? Months of desperately trying to hold together a team that he had believed in, while no one believed in him. The Director was sabotaging him in her personal vendetta for revenge. His SFA, Tim thought he was lying and lazy trying to shove his own work off. How had an investigator been so blind to not see the amount of effort being SFA that Tony spent baffled his mind. The ex-Mossad Ziva, who belittled him, endangered the team and walked away with no repercussions, only grew worse without Gibbs to reign her in. And Abby, his friend and confidant could no longer spare a moment to listen to him, just reminded him that he was nothing like their lost mentor.

 

He didn't need reminding. He knew he wasn't Gibbs. It was like everyone around him made it their mission to keep this pressure up all the while blindly missing that Tony lost one of the only people he trusts. That he had been forgotten and shoved aside again, just like in childhood, by a person who had sworn to always have his six. Rationaly he understood amnesia, and that Gibbs had to come to terms once more with the fact his wife and child had been killed, but his heart ached the entire time Gibbs was gone, with the trust that had been broken, even if unintentionally. Because he should matter. Tony should matter enough to someone to not be discarded.

 

However, his head constantly repeated and recycled what his team mates were saying, that he wasn't Gibbs, that he'd never be good enough, he wasn't the investigator Gibbs was, didn't have the experience. It never shut up. He was losing sleep and working more hours, just to keep his mind distracted, to try to escape the endless internal litany that had once again risen in him, slowly eroding away his confidence.

 

 He'd had this happen before, all throughout his life, struggling with the insecurity that growing up with people who had ignored his existence despite being the ones who created him. His mother, so sunk in her own misery and alcoholism, that she never noticed him when he wanted attention and eventually he lost her entirely when her liver failed. His father, always running a con, always tricking and dealing with someone, didn't want a liability, didn't want someone that required attention, money, or care and sent him away to school so he didn't have to deal with him.

 

However he had dealt with it. He had struggled through and had been surviving, though not thriving. He thought it might be worth it, that maybe he could prove himself to someone.

 

But now… Gibbs was back. And that should have sent joy through him and relief that his leader and friend had returned, had regained his memories. Tony had imagined different reunions, what he desperately hoped for an apology for treating him so shortly, though Gibbs Rules would have made that one impossible. But at least acknowledgement that he'd _tried_ that after everything, he tried as hard as he could to keep things going. Or an acknowledgement that they were friends. That they knew more about each other than just a boss and his employee, something anything to account for the fact that Tony had remained loyally at his side for years, despite job offers that would have meant promotions, raises, and, as Tony was coming to realize, a non-toxic work environment.

 

But none of those things happened. Instead, coming into the office the morning of the return, he had found all of his belongings moved, back on his old desk, and not even a hello from Gibbs. He tried to approach him, but Gibbs was swarmed by Abby, Ducky, Tim, Ziva and even the director had come down to say hello. And then a case came in and they headed out like nothing had changed. But things had for Tony. Things were not the same. Where trust and friendship has once resided, there was nothing. There were no shared glances of amusement at Ziva's miswordings, no nods indicating he'd done something well. Throughout the case there had been multiple opportunities of just the two of them together for Gibbs to say something, Tony would have accepted literally anything that indicated they were a team again, but there wasn't anything. Not even a headslap.

 

He's almost not angry with the circumstances, but with himself. That he had allowed himself to hope things were different. That he belonged somewhere, and for once, was wanted. It  couldn't get worse, he’d thought, but it did when they shut off his coms and virtually abandoned him to an unknown risk. That they cared so little for his safety, but so much for their convenience. And no one cared. No one stood up for him, not Gibbs, Abby, the Director, no one.  That was a stab in the gut. And even though he tried to mend it, he still felt like the wound was weeping blood with every moment he was around them. And he was pretty sure he’d bleed out eventually. But he wasn’t sure he cared.

 

A COUPLE OF MONTHS LATER

 Tony walked into the bullpen, without fire, without pep, just there to do his job and do the best he could for their victims. He didn't joke with the team anymore, didn't invite people out after work, didn't even interact at all if he could avoid it. And no one noticed. He was slowly being swallowed up by depression, he knew, but his psyche, so damaged through years of neglect and betrayal, just accepted it as what he deserved.

 

He was catching up on some paperwork at his desk feeling alone despite the people chatting and moving around him. Gibbs was up in the director's office, and Ziva and Tim were half-heartedly working on their own work, but more interested in their small talk. All of a sudden an alarm blared off alerting the NCIS to a National emergency. Immediately, well-practiced protocols were put into place and everyone focused on securing the building. Then the tvs where turned on and everyone watched from national security feeds as Aliens poured from the sky.

 

Avengers, made up of old and new super heroes, attacked the invading bug-like creatures. There was a sense of panic at the federal building as the director ordered some teams to pack up, and be ready to travel to the capital and assist in protecting the nation's most important buildings in case the war made it to them.

 

The MCRT was one of the ones ordered. Tony, Tim, Ziva and Gibbs grabbed their go bags and filed down to the carpool and sped off, beating several other teams with Gibbs insane driving. Which turned out to be a good thing as the traffic was packed as people tried to flee south on the off chance that the attack moved.

 

After several hours of working with a variety of security agencies, they got the news that the attack was over, the threat subdued in New York, though apparently there was a nuke that had to be diverted by Iron Man of all people. Exhausted and coming down off of the adrenaline rush the MCRT headed back to NCIS headquarters once relieved of duty. They barely spoke, just trying to take in what they had seen.

 

Tony, felt a stirring in his heart. All the damage that had happened, the people who had died and were trapped. For the first time in a long time he felt more than a passing emotion about something. He decided to donate to the relief efforts as soon as he had access to his computers. After all, he was never sure if he was going to wake up in the morning, and why waste his money on himself.

 

 

**_TWO WEEKS LATER_ **

Tony limped into the bull pen. The case had been a disaster. Gibbs had shouted at him, tore him down in front of Tim and Ziva, despite the fact it was their fault. But when he tried to talk to them about it, they ridiculed him, told him to just suck it up and take it, because he wasn't as good as a fighter or  investigator.

 

They had lost valuble information when the target had been killed. And that was on him. Nevermind that his request for back-up had been ignored and that he’d gotten injured and had to kill the man in defense.

 

He felt like his tremulous grasp on reality was slipping, like he was taking his last breath, and that the next would just not come. It wasn't really pain, though he knew that’s what it should be feeling, but more an apathy, from the fact that what he'd expected had come true. He was betrayed _again_ by the people he once thought he could trust. Why he had given them the second chance, was unknown to him.  The minor betrayals he'd ignored for years had born a greater betrayal that he wasn't coming back from. He knew that staying was suicide, that someday he wouldn't be in a position to fight back and his team would be too late. He almost didn’t care, dying in the line of duty would be okay with him. But he didn't want to cause Gibbs the grief. He still desperately cared for the man who had been like a father figure to him the past years, despite the fact Gibbs obviously no longer felt the same. God the last time he'd been invited over to the mans house for a drink had been before the accident, 9 months before. He was done.

 

So he had to leave. He didn’t have a plan. He had no one to turn to, no positions were open in NCIS, and his inquiries into the FBI had been rebuffed as they reminded him of all the times he was suspect in his cases.  But he wasn’t staying. He felt disconnected, disassociated almost like watching himself on a movie screen as he turned and walked up to the director’s office. He sat in the chair, tried to stretch his injured leg and waited to be called in by the secretary.

 

Walking into the office, he met the directors eyes and told her frankly that he was leaving. He didn’t care about his two weeks, he was taking them as vacation time. She exploded. His undercover operation for her had not been finished and he didn’t give a damn. She told him he couldn’t quit till it was over. But he refused. He told her it was sanctioned and he had no reason to stay. When she tried to argue that if he quit now he wouldn’t get severance and she would make sure he was blacklisted from working in law enforcement, he shrugged said okay, and signed the form.

 

As he left the office, he knew he was going to be in trouble with the MCRT, as he went over their head instead of going directly to Gibbs. But he knew he would never would be able to left if Gibbs asked him to stay, and he knew he had to leave. So he just went to his desk and started to collect his personal belongings.

 

It took about 10 minutes, right before he was finished for someone to notice that something was actually happening.

 

“Tony? Where are you going? You have to finish your reports.”  Mcgee ordered. He said it just loud enough to catch Gibbs attention, like a kid trying to get their sibling in trouble with a parent.

 

“Well McGee, I quit, so I’m packing up.” Tony offered blandly. He just kept focusing on emptying is drawers into the box he’d found in recycling.

 

“You WHAT?” roared Gibbs. He stormed around his desk to get to Tony. “You don’t get to quit until say you can.”

 

“Sorry Boss,” Tony looked up, feeling a tint of remorse, “But I quit. I can’t stay here any longer.”

 

Ziva scoffed. “You got fired after you botched the takedown today, don’t lie to us.”

 

Tony just stared at her for a moment. “I don’t lie Agent David.” And went back to work.

 

Cussing, Gibbs stormed up to the directors office and flew past the secretary that tried to deter him, slamming the door open and then shut behind him.

 

Seeing this as an opportunity to get out before further words could be exchanged, Tony finished emptying his desk by placing Gibbs medals and awards on Tim’s. “Don’t loose them. And you could be a great SFA if you put some effort into it, Agent McGee.” He also handed over a letter. “Please pass this along to Abbey and Ducky.”

 

“Agent David. I hope one day you figure out where your loyalties lie and fight for good, not your own gain.” He offered.

 

Unfortunately before he could say anymore Gibbs could be heard yelling across the bullpen at him. “Dinozzo, you walk out that door, you never get to come back. I will not write you a reference because of your blatant betrayal of the team, means you are a risk to others.”

 

The other teams in the area looked up and some people stuck their heads out of their office doors watching this go down. Tony glanced around meeting some eyes on faces that displayed sympathy. Some agents he’d worked with through the years who knew he was a good man and investigator. But others showed distrust and disdain. He couldn’t believe it had come to this. “I’m sorry Gibbs.” And he turned around a walked out.


	2. Deja Vu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Interesting Job 'Offer'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow ya'll I can't believe how big of a response I've gotten. I tried to polish up what I had left of coherently written work to give you to let you know that I will be continuing. Thanks so much. 
> 
> Fair warning, I didn't feel like I really got Fury down right, so let me know what you think of him. 
> 
> And there is some foul language as neither Fury nor Tony Stark strike me as particularly clean mouthed peoples especially when pissed off.

On the drive home Tony thought about everything that had gone down. Now blacklisted from the agencies he'd normally be interested in moving to, or had expressed interest in him before, he really had limited job options. He wasn't sure how much pull the director of NCIS truly had and if her threat was  as powerful as it had seemed. Maybe he'd be able to talk himself into an entry position? But did he want to just go back to being another agent?

 

Leadership was what he'd been looking at. At least another SFA position, with the amount of years of police work and at NCIS. Team lead would be ideal. But without any references and the black mark that Sheppard would at least be able to put in files he probably couldn't get anything near that. Unfortunately while he had been considering going back to school for a Masters or doctorate but he hadn't gotten to that point yet as things had been so chaotic. And that was a requirement for most team lead or even teaching positions.

 

And the thought of going full time just exhausted. Right now he could feel the desire to just curl up under the covers of a bed and never come out again. No way with the lack of desire for anything he felt at the moment could he dedicate going back to school full time. And why even bother.

 

These black thoughts kept swirling in his mind slowly getting darker as he trudged up the stairs to his apartment. Unlocking the door, he leaned his head on it and let the weight of everything press against him. Shoving it open however, brought an abrupt derail to his train of thought.

 

Lounging on his couch as if he owned it was a man in black. Knowing he no longer had his service pistol and badge, Tony decided to bluff and slowly move to a personal gun in the entry table.

 

"NCIS! Put your hands up!" He shouted, as he edged toward the table.

 

The man blinked at him, and slowly stretched and stood up off the couch. "Looking for this?" He asked as he pointed Tony's gun at him. Tony stopped cold.

 

"You are threatening an NCIS agent in his home. You could be arrested for trespassing and assault of a federal officer." He informed the man.

 

"No I won't. You quit today. You are no more an officer than I'm a ballerina." was the gruff response.

 

Shit, Tony thought to himself. He had no way to respond to that. Obviously this was a hit man sent by Mossad, the US government or hell even Sheppard to prevent him from saying anything. He wracked his brain trying to find something that would be classified enough to warrant an execution. He honestly wondered if anyone would care enough to truly investigate once his body was found. And for some reason at that moment, when everything should be going in hyperdrive, he just felt blank. Not focused blank, but an almost relieved blank that this was the end.

 

"Make it fast, Neo" he said. "I've done enough services to the country to warrant that. And I won't talk no matter the torture." He squared off to the man.

 

"I ain't from the damn Matrix, and I'm sure as fuck not here to kill you. My name is Nick Fury" Nick watched the broken man in front of him, who looked death in the eye.  He knew he made the right decision, he'd had his eye on Antony Dinozzo, Jr. for years. But he had underestimated the amount of damage that had been done to him.

 

"What do you want then?" Tony asked walking over to his couch and sitting down. He gave his back to Fury, but he could care less at this point.

 

"I'm the director of Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. I was in the area for some meetings and heard about your exodus. I wanted to offer you a job." Nick moved to stand in front of Tony and by sheer presence made the man look up at him.

 

"S.H.I.E.L.D.? Weren't you that group that tried to Nuke NYC during that invasion? I thought I was being blacklisted from the alphabet agencies. If you heard I quit you should have gotten that memo."

 

Director Fury scoffed. "We don't follow normal rules, just because one group of idiots wastes a great man, doesn't mean we should. And I did not order that. Who did is too classified for you, but we sure as hell were the people who defended the city."

 

Tony felt like someone punched him in the gut. So similar to what Gibbs had told him when he had hired him. Rule Number Five: You Don't Waste Good. He was not going through that again.

 

"Well, I'm not great, cause the Boss I just quit said the same thing "I don't waste good." and I’m sitting right here in front of you."

 

"Well you ain't at your best. I'll give you that. But the goodness I'm talking about Dinozzo, hasn't changed. You either got it or you don't and some people may lose it after seeing some of the stuff you have, but your honor today and the way you left your subordinate agents, proved to me you still had it. This is too damn sappy and I don't do sap. So here's the deal. We lost a ton of good men during the attack and some great men as well. And I need you to do the job of one of the best."

 

"Nope. I tried that. I tried to step into the place of the best and it got me here."

 

"Agent. I haven't bullshitted you yet and not going to start now. I think you got the ass end of a situation with that double crossing Mossad agent and that newbie computer genius who's been given what he wanted based on daddy and a decent hacking skill. But they were already set in their ways and had prejudices against you. This ain't gonna be an easy position, full of strong willed men and women who hate authority and to an extent each other. They are mourning the loss of the one man they all trusted equally. But you've got commendations for your leadership that we've been keeping an eye on since your college. I know you've got what it takes to get this group working as a functional team."

 

"NO!" Tony roared and surged up from the couch. "That sounds exactly what I left. I'm not going back to it."

 

Fury got in his face. "You don't got a choice. I said offer cause I was hoping you'd be reasonable enough. But I'm not going to let you go to waste on a shit desk job somewhere or worse end up getting killed or killing yourself cause you no longer got a will to live. You are coming with me. You are going to see a SHIELD psychologist, it’s a job requirement for all of us.  You don't have an organization that deals with the worlds secrets and not make it a requirement. I'd put money on you going on some anti-depressants because you sir, are most certainly depressed and I'm not risking you or them like that. In a week I'll introduce you to the team and you'll start handling them with the assistance of AD Hill, while you get up to par on any training you need."

 

 

"Now pack a bag. Our jet leaves in three hours. I'll give you the security clearances, confidentiality papers and team dossier on the plane. The rest of stuff can wait till you've got a place lined up to live. I've got a place in mind, but I'm not sure the landlord will allow it."

 

 

* * *

 

**Meanwhile at Avengers Tower NYC**

“What are you doing here Hill? Jarvis? Why did you let her in?” Tony asked the intruder in his tower as he searched the kitchen for his favorite coffee. “And where the hell is my coffee?”“Sir, you ran out of your coffee this morning. There are several packages on their way here. Dr. Banner has some teas in the top left cupboard if you need caffeine.” The AI responded. “And Deputy Director Hill was allowed access by Pepper.”

“Damn it.” Tony slammed the cabinet he was searching it. “I’m not drinking those herbs, gods know what they’d do to me. What do you want Hill?”

“We found a replacement for Coulson.” She stated bluntly.

Tony froze. “No.”

“Stark, we need the Avengers. The world needs them.” She insisted. “And you need someone to act as a liaison between the team and SHIELD, the public, the press. As well as make calls in the field.”

“That’s what Captain Spangles is for. He thinks he knows better than us anyway. And no way in hell am I going to be listening to another SHIELD lackey. Didn’t the other ‘handlers’ you assigned prove that.” He turned around and went to the fridge.

“He won’t be a Lackey. We are pulling him from a separate institution. NCIS.” She responded. She tried to hand him a pad with information.

“Don’t hand me things!” Tony snapped. “Naval Criminal Investigative Service? What’s a squid got to do with us.”

“He just works for the NCIS. He’s not a sailor or a military person. Look just read this file it will tell you what you need to know about Anthony Dinozzo.”

“Dinozzo? Why do I know that name? Jarvis?” He asked.

Jarvis responded quickly “Sir, it shows that a known associate of Obadiah Stane was Anthony Dinozzo. Apparently, Mr. Dinozzo were accused of running a con several years before Stane came to work for your father. He was questions in relation to the crime, but nothing was ever found to be for certain. He was invited to several business parties your parents had.”

“You want to invite a known associate of STANE into my house? To give me orders? Shove it where the sun doesn’t shine Hill.” Tony practically spat at her slamming his hands on the counter in between them.

“Tony, this Antony Dinozzo was born after that. He’s the son of that Dinozzo, and it shows they are mostly estranged. You are not getting an option. He is going to be your handler. And Fury requests you move the rest of the avengers into this tower before he gets here in a week.” Hill didn’t look remotely apologetic, simply determined. Tony wasn’t sure she was capable of any other emotion.

“Bruce is living here. The others have had it offered, but declined.” Tony hid how much that had hurt him. Captain America had been particularly brutal in his refusal. It turns out the cooperation and comradeship everyone had during the Battle didn’t last long after. He continued to rummage around the fridge.

“Be prepared for them to move in in the next five days. You are my first stop and Natasha and Clint are currently out on assignment but are back in 48hrs. Steve will be informed right after I leave here. Thor… well, we’ll see when he comes back. At least try to not chase away this handler like the last 14. He’ll be moving in with you”  


“Like hell he will!” Tony yelled turning around, only to find that she had left.  


"Freaking spies," He muttered, victoriously pulling out a can of 'caffinated poison', as Bruce called energy drinks, from the back of the fridge. "We'll see how long Mr. Dinozzo lasts." He told Jarvis to get the floors of the Avengers ready plus the smallest guest room on the common floor before heading back to the lab to do some research on his new 'handler'.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so this is everything I have currently written in a streamlined way (aka I've got some scenes jotted down, but nothing connecting.) I'm going to do my best to have another chapter ready in about a week and try to keep up a week to biweekly schedule. Just depends on real life. 
> 
> Also I'd love a beta if anyone is interested. In the mean time please let me know any spelling/grammar errors or plot inconsistencies you find! (Just be nice. I'm a sensitive sole.)
> 
> Listened to Deja Vu by Runaway Weekend while writing this chapter.


	3. Roots

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Roots by Imagine Dragons is where the title is taken from. I listened to it as I wrote the chapter.

Tony had his backpack on and duffle slung over his shoulder as he followed Fury to the 'jet'. He had to admit it didn't look like any plane he was familiar with. Its wings curved down instead of sticking straight out. It had a very military feel to it, but that didn't bother him, he'd been on jets and planes for the Navy. NCIS wanted what was most cost effective most of the time. Comfort didn't seem to occur to them.

He walked up the ramp coming down the back of the jet. The inside seemed typical of military transport, except the cockpit looked more like something from a space ship than a normal plane. Instead of sitting down on the main seats Fury walked straight to the pilot’s chair. He some info into a pad and the engines started to lightly hum.

"Are we the only ones on the plane? Seems a waste." Tony remarked.

"No need for more people. This quinjet alone is more classified than most FBI." Fury replied. He was gathering up a stack of paper. He handed it over to Tony. "Start here. This is a typical confidentiality agreement. Mostly. Once you get done with that, fill out the blue forms. This will get you a higher level of clearance. Once you get through that, here are the papers you need to fill out for shield medical. It covers both physical and mental health. We'll be at headquarters before you finish those."

"I'm surprised, I thought you would have apps and programs for this, but instead you are so old fashioned you use paper." Tony taunted.

Fury made his way toward the pilot chair. "Paper can't be hacked." Then the engines built up in speed, those noise preventing Tony from being able to ask any more questions.

"Dramatic son of a bitch." He cursed under his breath as he started to read through a very detailed confidentiality agreement that he was pretty sure broke some laws. He didn't even realize he'd never been handed the team dossier he'd been promised.

* * *

**SHIELD HEADQUARTERS SUITE 302: CAPTAIN STEVE ROGERS**

"I told you, I didn't want to live with that stuck up idiot." Steve Rogers, aka Captain America told Maria Hill. She looked as impassive as usual.

"Captain Rogers. You are an asset of SHIELD and just like all of our agents, you don't get to argue with orders." She calmly told him. "Also, genius, not idiot."

"You didn't disagree that he is stuck up." He pointed out.

"He is arrogant. However, that does not change the fact that you will be moving in with him by the end of the week. Your new handler is coming in and after the fact that you all have gone through 14 handlers in as many days, we decided to change things up. You haven't been able to function well as a team the two other times we needed you."

"Yes ma'am" He said, realizing that she was right, orders were orders. But he didn't have to be happy about them.

SHIELD Headquarters

Tony Dinozzo found himself herded off the plane and directly into the medical unit. They had heard about the plague and wanted to see his lungs for himself. After submitting to various physical testing, they wanted as well as a few images scans that set groups of doctors gleefully scurrying about, they finally released him. He had no idea what time it was, only the knowledge that it seemed to be one of the longest days of his life.

Fury, who had disappeared after turning him over to the slightly sadistic medical staff, reappeared as he was eating the meal they had brought him in the exam room. According to them he was not properly eating and they were putting him on a diet until is vitamin levels returned to normal or something. However, he wasn't sure what he was eating actually qualified as edible. But he choked it down anyway.

"Ah, they've got you fixed up, good." He said as he settled into the chair across from Tony.

"They were very excited about my lungs. Apparently, they will help with a research study. And they said my leg had a hairline fracture in the tibia so…" he gestured to the lightweight contraption on his foot. Much like a supportive boot it prevented him from putting stress on the wrong areas, however it was much lighter and more comfortable than the normal solution.

Fury nodded. "Let's go. We've got you housed here for the night before you move into your official quarters."

Tony gladded put aside the tray of 'food' and followed the man out of the room. "I won't be stationed here? Will I be in the US?"

"You'll be in the city. Just a different location, one not… SHIELD owned. You will be able to coordinate with your team more quickly that way. They'll be living with you. Mostly."

Once again, that team was taunted in front of him, but with not real details. "Director Fury, you said that you had a dossier on the plane, but you forgot to give it to me. I'd like to get to know the people you are putting in my charge."

Fury continued his course, turning through the confusing and nearly identical hallways of SHIELD. He stopped at a door and keyed in a code. "This is your room. You have a bathroom and a fridge with some water bottles and snacks. You shouldn't need to leave tonight. This is a private room Dinozzo, not the barracks so be grateful. You should get your rest. Tomorrow is going to be a long day."

"Sir," Dinozzo said while peering around the darkened studio like apartment, "I would like to know more information about my team…" he turned around and noticed the man was gone and the door shut behind him.

"Damn it." He opened the door but noticed the hallway was empty. Tony hated the feeling that information was being withheld from him. But he couldn't do anything about it now. He settled into the chair flicked on the tv and found a college game on. He didn't care about the teams playing but it was a familiar noise to wash over him.

* * *

**SHIELD HEADQUARTERS PRIVATE ROOM 672: TONY DINOZZO**

The following day had Tony up early. He didn't have any windows in this cell of a room, but his watch told him the sun had barely risen. He wondered if anyone from his team had tried to contact him. Did they care that he had disappeared without a trace? Unlikely. Gibbs had made it clear in front of the entire bullpen that he was on the outs. He'd left his phone behind and he wasn't ready to face the possible reactions of those who hadn't directly played a role, like Abby and Ducky.

Looking around he decided he had nothing better to do than start working out. He began a series of body weigh exercise on the floor. He was finishing up his second rep, when the door swung open and a slim woman stood in the doorway.

"Don't any of you believe in knocking?!" He exclaimed, reaching for his shirt and pulling it on over his head.

The woman didn't look up from the pads in her hand as she tapped away at them. "Agent Dinozzo, I'm Deputy Director Hill. Director Fury sent me down here to let you know that all of your paperwork has gone through and you've been given the necessary clearance to proceed forward." She held one of the pads out to him and he took it from her looking at it.

"This pad has your schedule for the day. This morning will be physical testing to see how you match with SHIELDS standings. We've always found other agencies to be lacking." Most people would have sneered the last statement but she presented it as fact. Tony made a mental note to never play poker against her in the future. "You will be released at 1200 to eat lunch, then proceed at 1300 to a psych evaluation. At 1500 report to medical for a follow up from yesterday. Then dinner and retire to your room by 2000. Tomorrow further testing continues at 0700, and your pad will have any updates and changes. There are maps in the pad and a gps location to guide you through the building. Don't be late."

With that she left the room, leaving Tony stunned. No one here had any manners what so ever. He started to go through his StarkTab. This was a more advanced one then he had ever seen but since SHIELD had classified planes, why not have advanced tablets. A normal one was clearly beneath them.

Realizing that the testing was going to begin at 0700, in thirty minutes, he grabbed a water bottle out of his fridge, opened the SHIELD app on the pad, found the map and started to make his way to the gym. He cursed when he realized once again, no one had given him any information on his so-called team.

* * *

**SHIELD TRAINING ROOM 1: OBSERVATION DECK**

Director Fury and Deputy Director Hill looked down from their vantage point at the training going on in the gym. The previous day the new recruits tested in endurance with running an obstacle course, hand to hand combat. Now they watched them on the ranges and with 'live' scenario practice.

"Though he didn't have the best time on the obstacle course, Dinozzo did very well on the hand to hand and near perfect on the shooting range with a hand gun." Hill remarked.

"Hmm." Fury looked thoughtful as he watched them rearrange the gym for long range (sniper) testing.

"Of course, that would likely be due to the damage his lungs suffered. I'm hoping our med staff can develop a treatment that will increase his lung capacity. Sir, are you sure he's the right choice to replace Coulson? The Avengers can be… unkind." While many may think that

"He'll manage. It's nothing new to him. And they can be just as cruel to themselves. Dinozzo has a remarkable amount of charisma and human understanding. I want him to turn them into a team." Fury responded. "Interesting."

Below them, the recruits were being allowed to choose their weapons for the testing and pair up with each other in a Sniper/Spotter sets. One of his agents had followed (subtley of course) Dinozzo the previous day through training and his breaks, watching and reporting the former NCIS agents interactions with his fellow Agents in Training. Dinozzo it had first appeared was being shunned by the rest of the recruits, between his lack of typical path as they primarily recruited from military special ops teams, CIA, or genius from top universities and late arrival. However, throughout the day, he had started to win them over, and now it appeared he was joking around and easily paired off with Agent Walker, a young CIA recruit who had limited field experience, but had excellent scores on the range.

The situation at hand was something that was unlikely to be encountered in real life, but worked well for a training scenario (and with SHIELDs operations you never knew what was going to happen). There were five pairs and five targets. The pairs were assigned a specific target and allowed to choose the best perch for their target. However, since the overall mission was the elimination of all five bad guys, they had to communicate with the other teams to make sure they weren’t going to interfere or ruin someone else’s op.

All the weapons in the assignment were modified to be shoot balls of paint similar to paint guns, but significantly more like the real version of the gun they were firing. Their targets were agents (ones that had recently reprimanded, being targets was part of their discipline) and thus provided moving targets. They were set in real life scenarios.

"Sir, I understand that, but he's an investigator. He's not a trained espionage agent or military leader. He is best at investigative work and the avengers work almost strictly on a defensive or espionage levels." Hill knew that Fury was a good sense of character when it came to these things, but she was puzzled by the decision.

"Yes, but a good investigator puts pieces together and makes things fit. He will need that to find out where the faults are in the avengers and shape them to work with each other. He also has more experience in a variety of fields than you are giving him credit for. He has been awarded for his undercover work. He has helped with retrieval missions and cooperated with a Mossad agent, picking up skills from her that she never realized she was teaching him. He's been in shoot offs and other situations defending those around him. He's got it. He's never been formally trained as a sniper, yet look."

Dinozzo, the spotter in this case, was following his sniper to a perch. After allowing the sniper to get in position, managed to set himself up almost perfectly with his scope. He was giving directions to the recruit, Agent in Training Walker, as well as keeping an eye on his surroundings. Hill turned up the volume on the microphone nearest them and listened as Dinozzo expertly fed Walker information about the target location and then the surrounding environment.

"His old team lead was a Marine Scout Sniper. He would have trained Dinozzo up to his standards in long range weapons. Compare them to the rest."

Maria looked over the different perches and pairs. Most of them were in positions and good ones at that. However their spotters were only focused on the target ahead of them forgetting that their most important job was the protect the sniper.

Fury turned on a com. “Agent, prepare your team for attack.”

What they didn’t tell the recruits about this assignment was that there were three SHEILD Agents hidden that were going to come in an open attack on the snipers once the cue was given. They needed to enforce the idea of constantly being aware of surroundings.

Fury and Hill watched as the recruit teams prepared to take shots. Dinozzo trying to get the other teams to communicate with him with limited success. He asked Sniper pair #1 whose target was sitting in a ‘café’ to wait and hold off, so that they could start with target #3, a man sitting in ‘office’ working. His own target, #4, was browsing through a ‘bookstore’, and he requested that team one, time with him to shoot as close to the same time as possible. However, the other spotters weren’t cooperating with him, and the pairs seemed to be hyper focused on their targets. Team #1 fired off their shot, successfully taking down their goal.

Almost immediately, the attack team started firing from their locations, some hidden, and some from to ‘civilians’ that were put around the targets to raise the stakes. Sniper team #1 was hit, and the other teams started panicking.

Dinozzo, started issuing off orders through the coms, took out one of the attack teams snipers, who was aiming at Agent Walker, his sniper. He calmed down Walker enough so he was able to take out his own target. Then they started acting in defensive of the other teams and in the end all the targets were taken out, and of the five shooting pairs, only one was completely taken down, with minor ‘injuries’ to a couple of the others. Above average damage had been done to the attacking team which was impressive.

“And that is why I hired Dinozzo. None of those other agents would have reached out to the others and been able to calm them down. And help them work together to eliminate the rest of the targets.”

He flipped the intercom on “Everyone please meet on the ground to go over your performance.”

The recruits climbed down from the perches and the attacking agents and victims were introducing themselves and congratulating them as Fury and Hill approached.

“Agents thank you for your assistance in this exercise, please fill out the reports on your pads and return to normal duties.” Fury dismissed them. He held back the team lead.

Then he turned his attention to the recruits. “Alright. Now, what happened and went wrong?”

Agent in Training Johnson, Spotter 4, spoke up. “You didn’t tell us that we could be under attack.”

“You didn’t need to be warned. You should always assume you are in danger. Now, when did the attack start? ”

“After I shot the first target,” said Sniper #1.

“Right. Now, Agent Marks,” he addressed the attack team leader. “What were your instructions for when to start the attack?”

“We were ordered to open fire when a target in public was killed.”

“Exactly recruits. If you had taken out Target 3 or 5 first the attack would not have started. Those Targets were in enclosed places that had no visual range for people to raise an alarm. Instead, you fired without listening to the advice of one of your groups spotters. What else?”

“We weren’t looking out for our snipers.” Said a spotter whose sniper had been injured.

“Good. You need to make sure that you are doing your job, which is first and foremost to protect your sniper from enemy fire. Second is to assist them in making their shot. They need to be completely focused on the target in front of them and block out any outside happenings, so they have to trust their spotters will have their back. Otherwise when all goes to shit they get distracted. Like what happened today.”

“Dinozzo, how did you know what to do in this scenario?” asked Walker.

Everyone looked at Tony. He shrugged “My old boss was a sniper and he trained me how to be a spotter for him when needed. And I’ve learned that you can’t trust your environment ever, so I wanted to be prepared.”

“You all passed the assignment, thanks to Dinozzo. Please write a report on the scenario and include what you could have done better. Dismissed.”

Fury walked away, but Hill hung back a few minutes. She needed to get Dinozzo to come with her for debriefing but was also curious to see how they took that statement. In many places, especially an organization like this, people could get very defensive about someone being praised and take it out on them.

However over half the recruits gathered together and congratulated Dinozzo and apologized for not listen to him sooner. He laughed it off, obviously uncomfortable with the praise, and in return offered praise to them as well. Maybe he would survive the avengers.

“Dinozzo, come with me. We need to introduce you to your team.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took way longer than I expected to write this chapter. I wanted to put in some information about why Tony was chosen to replace Coulson and I also wanted to show him off a little, but I didn't want to do a training montage type thing, so hopefully this worked. 
> 
> If you are wondering about where all this took place I'm going with SHIELD has a massive training facility under its on the ground headquarters and plenty of space to run these types of exercises. 
> 
> Please comment and let me know if you liked the chapter! Next Chapter: Tony meets Avengers


	4. All The Kings Men

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go! Another chapter. Tony learns about his team.

Finally, he was going to meet his new team. Tony had been growing suspicious about that lack of information about them. The avoidance the Directors of SHIELD exhibited made him worried about what was to come. Did they not have a team and used that as a way to manipulate him? Or was it a group of people under cover and so they couldn't be jeopardized? Or would he be working with an IA department? He should have asked more questions before he had agreed. His mind raced with possibilities and worries.  
 

His therapist diagnosed him anxiety and depression, and while he originally scoffed at the diagnosis, he noticed the level of anxiety in him while he followed Hill through the hallways and realized it may be true. When he was performing in front of people, like on the sniper course, he didn't feel it, but the minute he was quiet and had time to think, it started to swell up. He made a mental note to report this time back to his therapist at their next meeting, as the homework she had given him was to make notes of time when he was anxious, overwhelmed, or apathetic with what was happening.

 

The therapist honestly surprised him. The times in NCIS and before, when he had been required to see one had left a bad taste in his mouth for the field, and while he couldn't say he felt comfortable during the appointment, he hadn't felt judge like he had been in the past. SHIELD had obviously been very careful with who they had chosen, since they dealt with high intensity men and women who handled national security. He was fairly certain this doctor had heard it all, and it made him able to be more honest. He didn't love it, but he was willing to try.

 

Shoving thoughts of the appointment out of his mind, Tony focused on trying to follow Hill and familiarized himself with the environment. He wanted to make sure he had as good a grasp on the massive multilevel building as possible before he was moved. He knew that he'd be back on occasion and noting the details helped him redirect his attention from the worry about the future.

 

Finally, they reached a door, where Hill entered in a code. It was a large conference room with a huge flat screen at the end. Though there was enough seating for at least twenty people, only Fury was in the room. Where was his team?

 

"Agent Dinozzo. Good work on the testing today. Your other results have been impressive, but this showed the leadership ability I hired you for." He remarked.

 

Tony brushed it off. "Sir? I thought I was meeting my team here? I refuse to continue cooperating with your challenges and classes until I have received more information about my assignment."

 

Fury met his eyes, but he ignored the challenge. "We are waiting until all of your team returned Stateside. Some have been on separate assignments as without a handler, they could not work together. However, we will be giving you their files and assignment today."

 

"You couldn’t assign them a temporary handler? Or replace from your own men?" He asked. God his therapist was right, he was depressed. He should have asked all of these questions before he came here, but at the time he'd been so desperate for… something, and despite his misgivings, he'd been glad for the opportunity to leave.

 

"They've had 14 temporary handlers, since they lost their handler during the alien attack. However, when they had to work to together it was sloppy and they didn't listen to a word the AIC said. They need someone who doesn't have a direct military or SHIELD background or ties."

 

Anger flared in Tony, "They've had 14 DIFFERENT handlers and none of them worked?! What the hell do you expect me to do? "

 

"You have a different perspective and that’s what its going to take. You will have a lot of freedom in this position and so long as you get the team to work together and protect and serve with minimal damage to those around them I'll be happy. They don't have to like each other. Just listen to you."

 

Tony appalled at the dismissive comment about a team that doesn't have to like each other, asked the imperative question. "Who. Are. They?"

 

Fury motioned to Hill. She tapped on her pad, and the massive screen lit up with the pictures of an infamous group of people.

 

"The Avengers." Tony stated, starting at the screen shocked. He clenched his jaw and swung back to Fury. "You want me to be to handler for a team of DAMN SUPER HEROES?"

 

"Yes." Fury stared right back at him. "They are necessary to our nation and worlds protection. We need them because there are super villains and aliens and hydra out there and normal people can't fight them."

 

"Normal people, like me!" He practically shouted back at him. What the hell was he thinking? Tony wasn't up to this.

 

"Yes. You are who we need. We have Iron Man a technological genius, Captain American, the Hero pulled from History, Bruce Banner a genius in his own right and his alter-ego Hulk.  Hawkeye, a sharpshooter. And the Black Widow trained in espionage and assassinations since she was a child. Plus, Thor, an alien and Norse god.”

 

Tony dropped into a chair and started at the pictures on the screen. He felt betrayed. He had come here on the faint hope of being a team lead and doing some good, but he's stumbled into an alternate reality of the life he just left. Protocol and politeness completely left as he stood up and started pacing.

 

"You told me you could get me out of the situation I was in, and I'm right back in it," He yelled at the director. "I left because I couldn't earn the respect of a genius and an ex-spy. Our team lead left us for Mexico and their team lead died, but this is basically the team I left. This is basically the SAME DAMN HELL I was in. You said you felt sympathy of the situation I was in, and you give me this!? What the fuck?! You lying asshole."

 

Fury didn't even flinch. "People always say my initials should have been MF, not NF."

 

Tony stared at him. "I refuse."

 

"And you'll do what? Right now you are practically black listed from any form on law enforcement. You couldn't get a job as a mall cop with the records that you have thanks to NCIS. You do this for six months and if you want to quit I'll get those files erased and a recommendation letter from the president. You'll be able to have whatever job you wanted."

 

Glaring at the man Tony knew he didn't have any other options. He loved being in law enforcement and had always felt called to it. "You had handlers that couldn't last a day and you want me to last for six months. No. Six weeks."

  
"Three months. And you have the complete backing of SHIELD to do whatever you need to do. Any resources you want will be given to you. DD Hill will work with you the first week as they are familiar with her. She will step in if you are needed elsewhere as well. You will also be expected to continue to study, and we will help you gain your masters."

 

He knew that was the best offer he was likely to get. With a masters and a recommendation letter from them, he would be able to do anything he wanted in the future. He also was going to take full advantage at the freedom and resources they were offering.

 

"Fine. My first request is for the full files of everyone one the team. And the handler they lost. Where and when am I moving?" He asked.

 

"Avengers Tower, formerly Stark Tower. Everyone will be living regularly except Thor, though he will when he's on Earth. Once they return, Widow and Hawkeye are going to be taken off of active duty as agents for the next month so that everyone can get used to the new arrangement. You'll move in Sunday, three days from now. In the meantime, you'll be reviewing plans that SHIELD has made for disasters and events that will require the Avengers. I've heard your scheduled with medical for some intensive lung therapy sessions as well."

 

Maria who had been tapping away on her pad the entire time the discussion had been occurring spoke. "All the files are now made available to you on your pad. You may message myself or Fury directly if you need anything."

 

Fury stood. "Read over everything tonight and let us know what you need. The world is relying on this team… so the world needs you to fix them."

 

Fury and Hill left. Tony slumped in the chair. Shit, he thought. This was a disaster.

 

* * *

 

 

Tony ate his medically approved and required dinner quickly. He wanted to get to the files. Once he finished dinner, he returned to his living quarters, flopped back on the couch, opened the first file titled "Avengers Initiative", and began to read.

 

From that file, he moved to the individual’s files starting with Captain America. All members of the team had large files, with large amounts of redacted information in them. They focused on the exploits of them as individuals and on teams with each other or others in SHIELD.

 

He ended with Phil Coulson. The last one intrigued him the most. Agent Phil Coulson had managed to earn the respect of all the very difficult members of this team and he was curious to see what it had taken. He was sad that the man was dead. Between his documented love of suits, wry sense of humor and patience, he sounded like someone that Tony would have loved to know.  

 

However it did seem like it had taken the man years to get in good graces with Iron Man and build up a rapport with Agents Barton and Romanova. And Tony had to somehow get them working together in a few months. He remembered Fury's comment about the team not needing to like each other, but that felt wrong to him. A team like this that was going to be living together and frequently working in high intensity, life threatening environments needed to do more than work together. They needed to trust each other and enjoy spending time around each other. Otherwise they would all be miserable.

 

Tony took a deep breath. He needed to find a way to approach this team of superheroes and form a bond between them. The fact that Fury took advantage of Coulsons death in an attempt to bind them together likely wounded the team further.  He worked and got along with a great number of people, his sports teams, frat brothers, and there was a reason he was often a liaison to other agencies when he was working with law enforcement.  But super humans weren't the same.

 

What supplies did he need?

 

First he needed his suits. A good suit made everything a little bit easier to handle. He sent a message to DD Hill about getting his stuff shipped up here from his old apartment. 

 

He was moving into Avengers Tower in three days. He had three days to come up with a plan for introducing himself. God, this was intimidating, the world's safety depended on him and these super humans.

 

Enhanced humans. With the exception of Thor, they were all humans. Tony clung to that, he felt like something important about this was just beyond the reach of his fingertips. He started to flip through the files again, trying to find something that would help him flesh out what he kept overlooking.

 

It was in the middle of reading a comment in Iron Mans file, that Natasha had written, that it struck him. It said, Iron Man yes, Tony Stark, Not Recommended. All the files he had been given were titled with the super identity they were on. Captain America, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Hulk. They talked about their missions, but it didn't talk about their emotions, their personalities, their quirks and childhoods, outside of a very basic description that seemed to focus on suspected problems of personality.

 

But Tony Dinozzo realized something. All of these were complex _people_ before they were super heroes. He knew a little of Steve Rogers background due to the volume of reporting on him during WWII but he didn't know much about the man himself and how much was true. Stark was obviously a somewhat public person as well, but Tony knew how much damage could be done with the media and how far from reality it could be. The others were practically unknown, aside from Natasha having been a trained assassin at a place called the Red Room.

 

He was going to put the fact they were superheroes out of his mind and for the next three days focus on the people that made this group. He had a feeling that Coulson had a similar approach and he sent a request for access to all records that he had written. Coulson had recruited Natasha and Clint himself, and Tony hoped to find information on them in some of his old notes.

 

He felt determined. He could do this, by reminding himself, his new team, and SHIELD that people always came first and that included superheroes. They weren't robots, they weren't emotionless, and Stark and Bruce weren't even military. He needed to get a good grasp on who they were outside of their superhero identities, who they were behind the masks so to say.

 

Time to go through the files again.

 

* * *

 

 

"Congratulations on a successful mission Agent Romanova, Agent Barton." Fury's voice came over the head sets.

 

The pair was in a jet headed back to SHIELD Headquarters. "Thank you, Director. What’s our next assignment?" Natasha Romanova, aka the Black Widow asked.

 

"You are ordered to report to Avengers tower and move in. We are relaunching the Avengers Initiative permanently. You will no longer be doing SHIELD missions. A new handler has been found." Beside her, Clint Barton, Hawkeye, stiffened. She glanced over at him. She didn't want to admit it, but she was worried. He'd lost weight, and the shadows beneath his eyes seem to be growing everyday. He was taking more risks and less care with himself, and she knew he was struggling with guilt about Coulson's death.

 

"Yes sir" she replied. Fury clicked off.

 

"Tash." Clint spoke as softly as he could. "They can't replace him."

 

"I know." She responded. She missed their old friend, handler, mentor as much as he did. "Whoever he is he won’t last.”

 

 She sat silent for a moment, thinking over before she offered. “We can go to ground. If we want to disappear we can. We don't have to do this anymore." They were both at the end of their lines. The STRIKE teams they'd been assigned to in the absence of a handler or the Avengers were going downhill. Where they had previously been a respected duo, there was now fear. Men and women that Clint had been friends with now shunned him and everyone acted like he could turn on them at any moment. Nat spent as much time as possible trying to keep him away from others, but it was killing them both to not trust their team mates.

"We'll give it one last try." He looked over at her, seeing sorrow reflected in her eyes like it haunted him. "I promise I'll try."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! I know this may come off as slightly filler, but it needed to be done. I hope ya'll enjoy and please leave a comment if you do!
> 
> Or if you found an error I need to fix.


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